Sandrine Bonnaire for “The English Lover”, a naive murderer

The English Loverit is first of all the story of an obsession; that of Marguerite Duras for a news item. Particularly marked by the fact that the murderer, who had quickly confessed to being guilty, was unable to explain her actions, Duras wrote no less than three versions of this news item. The English Lover is the last and Duras only retained the essential; there is a murder for no apparent reason, a murderess and her husband, and someone trying to understand.

It is for this project and what it says that Sandrine Bonnaire returns to the theater stage almost 10 years after her last experience. In a production by Osinski, which strictly respects the simplicity desired by Duras, she plays the criminal Claire Lannes, both guilty and naive.

The influence and madness

According to Sandrine Bonnaire, Marguerite Duras “smarter than Amélie Rabilloud. Amélie Rabilloud was a simple woman, who was under the influence of her husband. She was hit and that's why she was granted mitigating circumstances. We feel this in the room, this echo of the women who are under influence. I don't know if Duras thought about it.“

Asked about her relationship with her character, Sandrine Bonnaire says she “understands her completely.” “I almost want to defend her. She has a touch of autism in her. The interrogator says it: she never adapted to the world. Because it was never considered. Her husband is ashamed of her, as he is ashamed of the deaf and mute cousin. These two women are marginalized. He thinks his wife is not intelligent, and puts it aside. It's a leaden burden for her.” Like Duras, it is less his crime than the madness of his gesture that interests the interpreter.

Know how to listen

The Interrogator, sitting in the room among the audience, addresses her kindly. Her role is to make this woman speak: “When she is questioned, she talks a lot. In fact, she is a woman who has simply never been listened to. And she becomes attached to this interrogator. She wants, in quotes, to keep him to herself, because he listens to her, he tries to understand who she is and besides, he doesn't behave the same way with the husband as with her. He is touched by her. to him. And she says very right things. She says them with her words.”

On stage, Sandrine Bonnaire must play with all the contrasts of her character; this candor and this hardness which coexist. Guided by director Jacques Osinski, she worked on all these subtle passages, which also give rhythm to the piece: “As it's quite static, we had to find rhythms. All this is lace, it's an immobile score.”

News

• Sandrine Bonnaire plays the main role of The English Loverby Marguerite Duras, in the production of Jacques Osinski, at the Théâtre de l'Atelier, until December 31, 2024 – at 9 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday and at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Sound clips

• Excerpt from the piece
• Marguerite Duras on the silence of Amélie Rabilloud in The Mask and the Feather on France Inter in February 1963
• Vladimir Jankelevitch on wickedness and innocence in the Panorama of philosophical books on France Culture in May 1972
• Ending song: “Tueuses” by Juliette, from the album Feminine rhymes (1996)